The present invention relates generally to body jewelry and more specifically to collapsible retaining structures for body piercing jewelry that are soft and/or flexible enough to be easily compressed. In this way the retainer can easily pass through the same piercing canal that it retains the jewelry within, and will securely hold a cylindrical transdermal portion of jewelry within the piercing canal.
It can be appreciated that body jewelry has been in use for years. Typically, body jewelry is comprised of machined surgical steel, titanium, and/or gold; glass forms, carved stone, bone and/or wood; or molded and/or machined polymers of various consistencies. Such jewelry is typically inserted into piercing canals, which are holes passing through the skin of a wearer. In order to be retained in the piercing canal, the jewelry must either have a shape that requires manipulation in several directions for removal (such as the bent wire hooks common on earrings), have an openable hoop or ring that can be closed after insertion, or be sized such that some part of the body jewelry is larger than the piercing canal, and cannot pass easily through.
The main problem with the third type described above is that most body jewelry of this type is comprised of at least two separable parts. One or more end caps, beads, or O-rings must be removed to allow the jewelry to be inserted into a piercing, and then replaced to maintain the jewelry in the piercing. These extra retaining bodies are easily lost and sometimes difficult to operate. Other jewelry designs may instead utilize a rigid enlarged rim to hold the jewelry in place, but this rim must be forced through the smaller piercing canal and often results in pain for the user. Another problem with conventional body jewelry is that, when worn, most jewelry designs can be caught and entangled by other objects or outside forces, and if forced from the piercing can severely damage or destroy the piercing canal in which it was seated. Another problem with conventional body jewelry is that when a piercing that contains jewelry with rigid retaining elements becomes infected or inflamed, the retaining bodies may become embedded in the swollen tissue around the piercing, or even forced into the piercing canal itself by the expansion of swelling tissue around the jewelry, causing further damage to an already irritated piercing.